Andy Parnaby

Dr. Andy Parnaby is the Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Cape Breton University. He holds a BA from Queen's University, an MA in History from Simon Fraser University, and a PhD from Memorial University, supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. His research focuses on deindustrialization in Atlantic Canada and Canadian political history. He has authored three books, including the award-winning Secret Service: Political Policing in Canada from Fenians to Fortress America, which won the Canada Prize in Social Sciences and an Honourable Mention for the CHA's John A. Macdonald Prize. Dr. Parnaby has taught at Dalhousie University, the University of Victoria, and held a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Saint Mary’s University.

His teaching expertise includes social/political history, historiography, the Atlantic world in the age of sail, and film studies. He has received three distinguished teaching awards: two from Cape Breton University (2011, 2016) and one from the Association of Atlantic Universities (2017).

Dr. Parnaby’s expertise spans Canadian politics, Cape Breton history and culture, and institutional leadership at CBU. He actively engages with Mi’kma’ki’s cultural heritage, reflecting CBU's commitment to Indigenous knowledge systems.